The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to power conversion systems and, more particularly, to photovoltaic power conversion systems.
The demand for attractive and practical alternative renewable energy sources for generating electrical energy has continued to steadily increase due at least in part to rising environmental concerns. For example, some power systems utilize photovoltaic arrays for processing solar energy (e.g., sunlight) into a standard and usable electrical form. Typically, system integration costs generally decrease as system voltages increase, particularly for larger-scale applications in the mega-watt range. Unfortunately, existing photovoltaic power converters are limited in output voltage and/or are relatively inefficient for use in higher voltage systems, thus negatively impacting overall system efficiency. As a result, existing photovoltaic power converters are not well suited for large scale photovoltaic arrays.